User:Tyrannus Mundi/Public image of Lee Myung-bak

Lee Myung-bak, the President of the Republic of Korea, has elicited a variety of public perceptions regarding his policies, personality, and performance as a head of state. Lee has garnered a very conflicting reputation since he started career as a politician. This has contributed his mixed reputation.

Legal professor Lee Sang-don of the Chung-Ang University had expressed concerns through his blog how Lee Myung-bak's political clique could potentially drag down his own administration and the Grand National Party after the next presidential election due to Lee's extensive history of political-level corruptions.

Nicknames and parodies
Lee Myung-bak has been given a number of nicknames by both his opponents and supporters. The nickname "2MB" derives from a combination of Lee's surname, a homonym of the word i (이), "two", and the initials of his forename. Opponents of Lee have often described him as a "rat", and this is reflected in the negative epithet jwibagi (쥐박이), "rat Bak-i".

Pro-Americanism
Lee Myung-bak is widely viewed as practicing a strongly pro-American foreign policy.

Anti-DPRK policies
Prior to his election, Lee was a staunch opponent of the Sunshine Policy of rapprochement towards North Korea initiated by Kim Dae-jung, and this is a position he carried over into his presidency. In common with most politicians in South Korea, Lee supports Korean reunification, but has adopted a hardline approach to North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons, fixing the abandonment of nuclear plans as a prerequisite to a more open approach from the South. In 2008, the Economist claimed that "Mr Lee's critics believe [by contrast that] a South Korean government has no option but to co-operate with the North ... [and] Mr Lee is in thrall to GNP hardliners". The North Korean government responded negatively to Lee's policies, terming him a "traitor" and "anti-North confrontation advocator".

However, Lee has continued investment in North Korea, and by June 2010 he had spent 765 million dollars.

Environment
Lee has been criticized by environmental organizations for his heavily development-oriented approach and have claimed that he shows excessive disregard for the environment. Critics have focused particularly on his plan for a Grand Korean Waterway and his associated Four Major Rivers Project. Hanyang University economist Hong Jong-ho claimed that the Waterway would create an "environmental disaster". Lee's support for the construction of a naval base on Jeju island has also fallen under criticism.